Article Sidebar

Published
Sep 11, 2023
Download
PDF
Statistic
Read Counter : 0 Download : 332

Main Article Content

Abstract

This descriptive quantitative study explored secondary school students’ reasons for receiving or not receiving private mathematics tutoring. It also explored the prevalent teaching methods private mathematics tutors use. A questionnaire was adapted to collect data from 1,309 Year 7 to Year 12 students (ages 11 to 17 years) in three countries: Brunei, Indonesia, and Iraq. The results highlight that students may receive private mathematics tutoring to pass national examinations and improve examination scores. Teachers also adapt to teaching approaches that enable students to achieve these teaching and learning goals. This study provides an initial understanding of the common reasons and teaching methods used in private mathetics tutoring across different contexts that prioritise high-stakes examination culture. The results provide implications for how private mathematics tutoring can be used to support effective teaching and learning compared to the high-stakes reasons it seems it promotes. The results also accentuate the need for families and other stakeholders to reconsider private mathematics tutoring as an opportunity to remediate the challenges students encounter in their normal classroom instruction to improve student learning.

Keywords

High-stakes examinations Prevalent teaching methods Private tutoring Secondary mathematics Shadow education

Article Details

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Bray, M. (2009). Confronting the shadow education system: What government policies for what private tutoring? UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/publications/recent/abstracts/2009/Bray_Shadoweducation.htm

  2. Bray, M. (2010). Researching shadow education: methodological challenges and directions. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(1), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-009-9056-6

  3. Bray, M. (2013). Benefits and tensions of shadow education: Comparative perspectives on the roles and impact of private supplementary tutoring in the lives of Hong Kong students. Journal of International and Comparative Education (JICE), 2(1), 18-30. https://doi.org/10.14425/00.45.72

  4. Bray, M. (2021). Shadow Education in Europe: Growing Prevalence, Underlying Forces, and Policy Implications. ECNU Review of Education, 4(3), 442-475. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531119890142

  5. Bray, M. (2023). Geographies of shadow education: patterns and forces in the spatial distributions of private supplementary tutoring. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 53(3), 343-360. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2021.1915749

  6. Bray, M., & Hajar, A. (2023). Shadow education in the Middle East: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003317593

  7. Bray, M., Kobakhidze, M. N., & Kwo, O. (2018). Shadow education in Myanmar: Private supplementary tutoring and its policy implications. Comparative Education Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000373594

  8. Bray, M., & Kwo, O. (2016). Designing and implementing mixed approaches to shadow education research: Experiences and lessons in Hong Kong. In M. Bray, O. Kwo, & B. Jokić (Eds.), Researching private supplementary tutoring: Methodological lessons from diverse cultures (pp. 149-178). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30042-9_8

  9. Bray, M., & Kwok, P. (2003). Demand for private supplementary tutoring: conceptual considerations, and socio-economic patterns in Hong Kong. Economics of Education Review, 22(6), 611-620. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-7757(03)00032-3

  10. Bronfenbrenner, U. (1995). Developmental ecology through space and time: A future perspective. In P. Moen, G. H. Elder Jr, & K. Lüscher (Eds.), Examining lives in context: Perspectives on the ecology of human development. (pp. 619-647). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/10176-018

  11. Burkhardt, H. (2007). Mathematical Proficiency: What Is Important? How Can It Be Measured? In A. H. Schoenfeld (Ed.), Assessing Mathematical Proficiency (pp. 77-98). Cambridge University Press.

  12. Byun, S.-y., Chung, H. J., & Baker, D. P. (2018). Global patterns of the use of shadow education: Student, family, and national influences. In H. Park & G. Kao (Eds.), Research in the sociology of education (Vol. 20, pp. 71-105). Emerald Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-353920180000020004

  13. Chan, V. N. M. (2019). English private tutoring in Macao: Perceptions of senior secondary three students. ECNU Review of Education, 2(1), 44-63. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531119840864

  14. Chen, I.-C., & Kuan, P.-Y. (2021). The heterogeneous effects of participation in shadow education on mental health of high school students in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(3), 1222. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031222

  15. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (4th ed.). Sage.

  16. Directorate General of Early Childhood Primary and Secondary Education. (2020). Basic data of primary and secondary education [Data pokok pendidikan dasar dan menengah]. Directorate General of Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary Education of Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. Retrieved from https://dapo.kemdikbud.go.id/sp

  17. Douglas, D., & Attewell, P. (2017). School mathematics as gatekeeper. The Sociological Quarterly, 58(4), 648-669. https://doi.org/10.1080/00380253.2017.1354733

  18. Ebil, S., & Shahrill, M. (2023). Overview of education in Brunei Darussalam. In L. P. Symaco & M. Hayden (Eds.), International handbook on education in South East Asia (pp. 1-21). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_46-1

  19. Epstein, J. L. (2010). School/Family/Community Partnerships: Caring for the Children We Share. Phi Delta Kappan, 92(3), 81-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171009200326

  20. Gan, A. L., & Shahrill, M. (2019). Why the need for private tuition in mathematics? Investigating shadow education in Brunei Darussalam. AIP Conference Proceedings, 2194(1), 020031. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5139763

  21. Guill, K., Lüdtke, O., & Schwanenberg, J. (2020). A two-level study of predictors of private tutoring attendance at the beginning of secondary schooling in Germany: The role of individual learning support in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 46(2), 437-457. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3586

  22. Hajar, A. (2018). Exploring year 6 pupils’ perceptions of private tutoring: Evidence from three mainstream schools in England. Oxford Review of Education, 44(4), 514-531. https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2018.1430563

  23. Hajar, A., & Abenova, S. (2021). The role of private tutoring in admission to higher education: Evidence from a highly selective university in Kazakhstan. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 11(2), 124-142. https://doi.org/10.1556/063.2021.00001

  24. IRFAD. (2014). Iraq Education. IRFAD Monitoring & Evaluation Project Development & Implementation. Retrieved from http://www.irfad.org/iraq-education/

  25. Jansen, D., Elffers, L., & Jak, S. (2023). A cross-national exploration of shadow education use by high and low SES families. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 32(3), 653-674. https://doi.org/10.1080/09620214.2021.1880332

  26. Jansen, D., Elffers, L., & Volman, M. (2022). And then there were three: (re-)distributing educational responsibilities in response to the growing use of shadow education in the Netherlands. Cambridge Journal of Education, 52(5), 615-632. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2022.2044760

  27. Jassem, R., & Kazem, S. (2001). The phenomenon of private tutoring. Journal of Al-Qadisiya in Arts and Educational Sciences, 1(2), 39-47.

  28. Kamil, B. K. (2021). Attitudes of high school students towards private tutoring. Journal of Al-Frahedis Arts, 13(2), 397-414.

  29. Kawedhar, M. C. S., Mulyani, S., Saputro, S., & Yamtinah, S. (2020). Shadow education in Indonesia: Is it relevant to students' critical thinking skills in chemistry learning? International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 19(11), 223-241. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.11.13

  30. Kim, Y. C., Gough, N., & Jung, J.-H. (2018). Shadow education as an emerging focus in worldwide curriculum studies. Curriculum Matters, 14(12), 8-30. https://doi.org/10.18296/cm.0027

  31. Li, J., & He, R. (2022). Family time and money inputs in education and teenager development: Interpretation of social capital, cultural capital, and shadow education. Best Evidence in Chinese Education, 11(1), 1455-1460. https://doi.org/10.15354/bece.22.ab002

  32. Liu, J. (2012). Does cram schooling matter? Who goes to cram schools? Evidence from Taiwan. International Journal of Educational Development, 32(1), 46-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2011.01.014

  33. Liu, J., & Bray, M. (2020). Private subtractory tutoring: The negative impact of shadow education on public schooling in Myanmar. International Journal of Educational Development, 76, 102213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2020.102213

  34. Luo, J., & Chan, C. K. Y. (2022). Influences of shadow education on the ecology of education – A review of the literature. Educational Research Review, 36, 100450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2022.100450

  35. Malik, M. A. (2017). Shadow education: Evolution, flaws and further development of the term. Social Sciences and Education Research Review, 4(1), 6-29.

  36. Marmoah, S., Roslan, R., Chaeroh, M., Elita, M. D., & Fauziah, M. (2021). The comparison of education system in Australia and Indonesia. JPI (Jurnal Pendidikan Indonesia), 10(4), 784-796. https://doi.org/10.23887/jpi-undiksha.v10i4.33661

  37. Mikkelsen, S. H., & Gravesen, D. T. (2021). Shadow education in Denmark: In the light of the Danish history of pedagogy and the skepticism toward competition. ECNU Review of Education, 4(3), 546-565. https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120983335

  38. Ministry of Education. (2013). The national education system for the 21st century: SPN21 (Revised ed.). Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/publications/recent/abstracts/2009/Bray_Shadoweducation.htm

  39. Otto, B., & Karbach, J. (2019). The effects of private tutoring on students’ perception of their parents’ academic involvement and the quality of their parent-child relationship. Educational Psychology, 39(7), 923-940. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2019.1610725

  40. Pallant, J. (2010). SPSS survival manual (4th ed.). McGraw Hill.

  41. Park, H., Buchmann, C., Choi, J., & Merry, J. J. (2016). Learning beyond the school walls: Trends and implications. Annual Review of Sociology, 42(1), 231-252. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-081715-074341

  42. Raby, A. (2020). Student voice in personal tutoring. Frontiers in Education, 5, 120. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.00120

  43. Rifai, I., & Rombot, O. (2022). Basic education in Indonesia. In L. P. Symaco & M. Hayden (Eds.), International handbook on education in South East Asia (pp. 1-29). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-8136-3_29-1

  44. Rowe, S. (2021). The UK’s rise of ‘shadow education’ – an overall benefit or a contribution to further inequality? Retrieved from https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/socialpolicy/2021/05/07/the-uks-rise-of-shadow-education-an-overall-benefit-or-a-contribution-to-further-inequality/

  45. Shadbash, S., & Albakaa, T. (2017). Iraq: An overview. In K. Serra (Ed.), Education in the Arab World (pp. 21-37).

  46. Shahrill, M. (2018). Teachers’ devotion to review lessons: Insights to the mathematics lessons in Brunei Darussalam. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1028(1), 012158. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1028/1/012158

  47. Shahrill, M., Gan, A. L., Mohammad, H. h., & Jawawi, R. (2022). Intentions of shadow education in mathematics: Insights of secondary school students in Brunei Darussalam. Didactica Mathematicae, 44, 81-105. https://doi.org/10.14708/dm.v44i1.7182

  48. Shahrill, M., Noorashid, N., & Keasberry, C. (2021). COVID-19: Educational practices and responses in Brunei Darussalam. In L. H. Phan, A. Kumpoh, K. Wood, R. Jawawi, & H. Said (Eds.), Globalisation, education, and reform in Brunei Darussalam (pp. 325-354). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-77119-5_16

  49. Shaya, V. N., Shahlehi, S. F. H., Kawi, F., & Ismail, K. (2020). Assessing from the perspective of students amidst COVID-19: Do the online tuition classes provide ‘equal understanding’ as to physical tuition classes? Albukhary Social Business Journal, 1(2), 94-103.

  50. Soeung, S. (2021). Revisiting Cambodian private tutoring: Insights into teachers’ professional misconduct. Journal of International and Comparative Education (JICE), 10(1), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.14425/jice.2021.10.1.0704

  51. Southgate, D. E. (2013). Family capital: A determinant of supplementary education in 17 nations. In J. Aurini, S. Davies, & J. Dierkes (Eds.), Out of the Shadows: The Global Intensification of Supplementary Education (Vol. 22, pp. 245-258). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-3679(2013)0000022012

  52. Sriprakash, A., Proctor, H., & Hu, B. (2016). Visible pedagogic work: Parenting, private tutoring and educational advantage in Australia. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 37(3), 426-441. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2015.1061976

  53. Šťastný, V. (2022). Shadow education: A double-edged sword for Czech mainstream schools in the competitive educational market. Research Papers in Education, 37(6), 1042-1063. https://doi.org/10.1080/02671522.2021.1907777

  54. Šťastný, V., & Kobakhidze, M. N. (2020). Throwing light on shadow education. Orbis Scholae, 14(2), 5-12.

  55. Suryadarma, D., Suryahadi, A., Sumarto, S., & Rogers, F. H. (2006). Improving student performance in public primary schools in developing countries: Evidence from Indonesia. Education Economics, 14(4), 401-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/09645290600854110

  56. Tarigan, F. N., & Lasnumanda, E. S. (2020). Online english shadow education: EFL learners’ perspective. Lexeme: Journal of Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, 2(2), 70-78.

  57. Wang, C., & Wang, L. (2022). The mathematics teacher in shadow education: A new area of focus in teacher education. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 25(2), 247-255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-021-09522-3

  58. Wang, L., & Guo, K. (2018). Shadow education of mathematics in China. In Y. Cao & F. K. S. Leung (Eds.), The 21st century mathematics education in China (pp. 93-103). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-55781-5_5

  59. Yu, J., & Zhang, R. (2022). A review of shadow education. Science Insights Education Frontiers, 11(2), 1579-1593. https://doi.org/10.15354/sief.22.re058

  60. Yung, K. W.-H. (2021). Shadow education as a form of oppression: conceptualizing experiences and reflections of secondary students in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 41(1), 115-129. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2020.1727855

  61. Yung, K. W. H., & Chiu, M. M. (2020). Factors affecting secondary students’ enjoyment of english private tutoring: Student, family, teacher, and tutoring. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 29(6), 509-518. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-020-00502-4

  62. Zhan, S., Bray, M., Wang, D., Lykins, C., & Kwo, O. (2013). The effectiveness of private tutoring: students’ perceptions in comparison with mainstream schooling in Hong Kong. Asia Pacific Education Review, 14(4), 495-509. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-013-9276-7

  63. Zhang, W. (2020). Shadow education in the service of tiger parenting: Strategies used by middle-class families in China. European Journal of education, 55(3), 388-404. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12414

  64. Zhang, W., & Bray, M. (2017). Micro-neoliberalism in China: Public-private interactions at the confluence of mainstream and shadow education. Journal of Education Policy, 32(1), 63-81. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2016.1219769

  65. Zhang, W., & Bray, M. (2020). Comparative research on shadow education: Achievements, challenges, and the agenda ahead. European Journal of education, 55(3), 322-341. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12413

  66. Zhang, Y. (2016). Relationships between shadow education and examination scores: Methodological lessons from a Chinese study in senior secondary schools. In M. Bray, O. Kwo, & B. Jokić (Eds.), Researching private supplementary tutoring: Methodological lessons from diverse cultures (pp. 59-74). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30042-9_3

  67. Zhang, Y., Cui, C., He, Y., & Wang, L. (2022). Does private supplementary tutoring matter in Chinese students’ learning of mathematics: A longitudinal study. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 54(3), 737-747. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-022-01346-6

  68. Zhang, Y., Ma, X., & Wang, L. (2020). The determinants of private tutoring participation for mathematics in China: Focusing on the role of student metacognition. Frontiers in psychology, 11, 603. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00603